Airship mooring means



April l2, 1932. A, HALL-BROWN ET AL 1,853,404

AIRSHIP MOORING MEANS Filed April 19,- 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS..

April 12, 1932. A. HALL-BROWN ET AL 1,853,404

AIRSHIP MOORING MEANS Filed April 19, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 lC@ (CL E April 12, 1932. A. HALL-BROWN ET AL 1,853,404

AIRSHIP MOORING MEANS Filed April 19, 1929' 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 i, ,U i L? w W f BY ATTORNEYS April 1.2, 1932.

A. HALL-BROWN ET AL AIRSHIP MooRNG MEANS Filed April 19, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fi gia.

INVENTORS.

'inlet' and exhaust` branches thereon.

Patented Apr. 12, 1932 uNrri-:D STATES PATENT- oFricI-:Ll

ARCHIBALD HALL-BROWN, or RURLEY, AND EDWIN WALTER .'roNEs, oEpLIivcoLNg ENGLAND, AssIeNoRS To THE RABcocK a WILcox COMPANY,` or BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION orNEW JERSEY f ,c

AIRSHIP MooRING :MEANS I i Application filed April 19, 1929,Seria1No. 356,409, andpn GreatV Britain July 17, 1928.

This invention relates to airship mooringv tower heads and more particularly to airship mooring tower heads having a swinging arm supported in agimbal frame and having a telescopic portion which `can be movedin or out by supply of a pressure medium.

he invention is concerned with the control of the movement of the swinging arm or the likeand has for its object to provide control means which can be operated by a single attendant and from acentral position.

In accordance with the invention, the valve 'gear is so arranged that by the operation of a single hand wheel or lever, valves .are opened or closed in proper sequence to'control the admission and exhaust of pressure iluid whereby to effect operation of the ram element of the swinging arm'and also if desired locking means associated with said ram. In conjunction with the valve gear there may be provided indicating means for indicating the corresponding movement at any time.

The invention 'is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. l is a vertical section on the line 1-1 of'Fig. 2 of the control valve.

' Fig. 2 is av section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

l Fig. 3 is an elevation at right-angles to Fig. ll looking in the direction-.indicated by the arrow X (Fig. 1). y

Figs. 4, 5v and 6 are detail views ofthe valve body v,drawn to' a smaller scale showingjlthe Figs. 7,8 and 9 are views showing the as sembly of the control valve infconjunction with indicating devices.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional viewthrough an airship mooring mastand its supporting means. v

Y Referring firstto Fig. lOin which there is shown a mooring mast with which the inventionmay be used, the character A designates'the mooring `head adapted to receive a part ofthe airship to' be secured vthereto by means of the cable B running longitudinally through thearm C secured to the head. This arm C is in the form of a piston or ram reciprocating in the cylinder D mounted' in 'gimbals, as shownthe movement of the arm being controlledby 4means of fluid pressure compartment 8tol the -.compartment v5.1"

on the arm to lock the same in position. .The

pistonG is operated byiluid pressuresupplied to the cylinder through the vhigh and low pressure tanks J, the fluid being supplied to these tanks through pipesK. Y

The control of thek fluid supplied to the cylinders D and His lpreferably efectuated according to thisinvention by a single mov able member which controlsxthe various valves, in a manner which will now be described.y The'fcontrol valve proper shownl comprises a body orv chest'ly of whichthe rear endis subdivided into a set of compartments 2, 3, 4, 5, (Fig. l) and a setof compartments- 7, 8, 9, 10 separated therefrom by a vertical partition 6.

The partition 6 is apertured on eachside of adividingrib 11 to present seatings for horizontally disposed valves 12-19ve`rtically spaced, four on each side kof the rib'll, the

valves l2-'15 on one side of the rib l1 being arranged in staggered relation to the valves 16-19 on the other side of the rib.

valves 12, 13, 14 being adapted,-respectively,

'tocontrolthe passage of pressureiiuid from the compartment 7 `vtothe :compartments 2,1

V3, V4 and the valve 15,l being adapted to control the passage of pressureluid lfromthe rIhe valves 16-19 aree'xhaust valves; the valves 16, 17, 18 being adapted, respective-` -ly, to control the passage of `fluid-'from the compartments 2, 3, 4to they compartment 9 and thef'valve-19 being .adapted 4to control the passage.ofpressurefluid from thecom- `partment 5 to the compartment 10.`

l The inlet compartment Y is provided with a supply branch`f20 connected to a source of fluid lpressure supply; the compartment 9. is provided with anyeXhaust tbranch'21; the: compartment 8isfrprovided with a supply branch 22 connected to a source of pressure supply workingat a lower' pressure than that supplied tothe branch 20,a-nd thecomfor ' The' valves 12--15 are inletvalves, the

' respectively,

" The valves 12-19 are guided for horizontal movement at 28 in the body 1 and are maintained in engagement with their seats by helical compression springs 29.

The valve-actuating-meanscomprises a vertical cam shaft 30 rotatably journalled in a casing 31 secured to the front ofthe body 1 and carrying suitably profiled cams 12', 13', 14', 15', 16', 17',`18,'and 19', one for each valve i12-#19,' and each co-operating with a rocker lever 32 carrying a tappet 33 engaging the relative valve stem.

The cam shaft30 is manually Vrotatable by means comprising a handwheel 34 secured to -a shaft 35 unitary with a worm36 meshing with a worm-'wheel 37 keyed to the top end of the spindle 30, the shaft 35 and wormwheel'boss 38 being journalled in a casing 39 sui-mounting the casing 31. v C

. The arrangement is such that by manual rotation of the handwheel 34 inV clockwise direct-ion the valves are opened and closed in proper sequence to operate the ram element -of the mooring head andalso to actuate the locking piston co-operating withV said ele- Y ment. .Y

Itwill be understood that the two upper valves 12, 16 constitute, respectively, the inlet and exhaust valves controlling the bottom side of the locking piston; the next pair of valves 13, 17 controlling the top side of 'the ram element and the lower pair of valves 15, 19 controlling the bottom side of the ram i element.

` fluid pressure supplied to thelbottom side of `The compartments 8 and 10 are isolated 'from the compartments 7 and 9 because the the ram element is less thanthat supplied `to the toprside of saidelement and to the elocking piston.

The control valve is'designed to control V"the pressure fluid so that the following Voplits.

titions.

erations are performed successively (1) The pin which locks the ram element in.' central position is withdrawn.

(2) The ram element is protruded.

(3) The ram element is retracted. Y Y (4) The locking Vmeans is operated to lock the ram element in central position.

` It will be understood that, although the control valve is arranged for two pressures only,fany number of pressures may be provided for by a suitablearrangement of par- .Thehandwheel shaft 35 is Vextendedrearwardly and is'operatively connected by gear- Y When the mooring head erateV said .valves in sequence to cause suc- Nthe indicator 42 whereby to indicate the movement of the ram, i. e. the positions intermediate thefullin and full out positions.

is notinuse, the pointer of the indicator 42 registers Neutral; in this position all the'inlet valves 12-15 Aare closed and allthe-exhaust valves 16-19 are open. The vindicatorV pointer is adapted to make oneJ revolution for each revolution ofthe cam spindle 3() and revolves in clockwise direction.

' In operation, `whenzthe handwheel 34is rotated in clockwise direction until the `indicator registers Unlock, pressure fluidis admitted to the cylinder of the locking piston whereby to withdraw it, thus leaving thel ram element free to move. Further actuations of the control valve so that the indicator registers, successively, Ram out,Ram in, and Lock effects these operations by alternately admitting and exhausting the pressure liuid to'and from the ram element and locking piston cylinders.`

1 At'the end of the sequence of'oper'ations, the handwheel 34 is rotated` until the indicator registers Neutral f The operations of retracting the ram ele- Vment and protruding the locking piston are ,31,09

separated by a time interval so rthat the exhaust Ivalve 19 for the underside of the ram element andthe inletvalve 12 for the bottom of the locking piston have av distinctly dead period whenboth valves are closed.

It` will be understood that there is an idle periodl between any two succeeding operations when` both the exhaust and inlet valves applying toy that/ particular operation will the said valves in a predeterminedsequence.

2. In combination, an airship mooring head having an arm securedthereto, means to move said arm from one position to another, means to locksaid arm in one of said positions, valves adapted to control each of said means, and a single control means to opcess'ive operation of said means. i

In combination, an airship mooring head having an arm secured thereto, means to move said arm from one position to another, means to lock said arm in one of said-.1.30

positions, a cam shaft adapted to operate said means in sequence, and means to rotate said` lock said arm in one position, means tomove c said arm, and a single movable member adapted upon movement thereof to positively regulate successive unlocking of the arm, move it to another position and then back to initial position, and finally to again lock the arm.

6. In combination, an airship mooring head having an arm secured thereto, fluid pressure operated means for moving said arm axially, fluid pressure operated means for looking said arm in one position, valves adapted to control said means, and a single control means to opera-te said valves in sequence to cause successive operation of said means.

7. In combination, an airship mooring head having Ian arm secured thereto, fluid pressures operated means` for moving said arm axially, fluid pressure operated means for locking said arm in one position, valves adapted to control said means, a cam shaft controlling the operation of said valves, and means to rotate said shaft.

` ARCHIBALD HALL-BROWN.

EDWIN WALTER JONES. 

